So I’m thinking of doing a story collection and I want your thoughts. Yes, you!

As I’ve mentioned on the blog here before, I won’t have a new novel out in 2019. I’m working on one now, in point of fact, and the more it challenges me and kicks my ass, the more I love this book. But I’ll be lucky to have it written by summer. So 2019 is likely right out.

That said, I’m used to having a new something out in the world each year, even as I recognize just how privileged I am to even be able to say that. Six novels, one per year, since 2013 represents an immense amount of good fortune. But yes, I’ll really miss having new work out there.

Or will I?

I’ve been fortunate enough to have published six short stories over the past five years. Four of them have been in anthologies, one was written specifically for the web, and one was a novella tie-in to my debut, The Daedalus Incident. You can find out more about them here, of course, and I urge you to do so. They’re a real mix of stuff, from Cthulhu Mythos horror to fantasy to science fiction to humor. If there’s a common thread among them, other than the schmuck who wrote them, I can’t see it.

For most of these, I have the publishing rights back. A couple are pieces I did for role-playing game worlds — Pathfinder and Vampire: The Masquerade, respectively — and I may or may not be able to reprint those easily. I also have a couple additional stories that have yet to see the light of day, but I’m really quite proud of regardless, so those will get in there too. Finally, it’d be really great to reprint the Daedalus novella, The Gravity of the Affair, after my old agency shut down aspects of its publishing business. (It’s still up on Audible, though, so go figure.)

So…let’s call it six to eight stories, with a total word-count ranging from 40,000 to 55,000, depending on permissions. That seems reasonable, right? And I’d probably enjoy writing a little about each story, the genesis of the work, lessons learned, whatever. Interesting bits for both readers and writers alike seems like a good way to go.

And if I don’t get the OK to reprint the game stories, I could still theoretically link to them! One’s freely available on the web, and the other one is the featured preview story for the anthology on Amazon. I could certainly talk about those works and what they mean to me, then provide the freely-available, Google-able links.

In terms of actually publishing the thing, I would probably choose the path of least resistance and go with with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing program. Story collections just don’t sell for most authors unless they’ve already hit it big — and while I’m really grateful for my successes, I don’t yet qualify as big. So a self-pub is the way to roll, and KDP Select is probably the best return on investment I can manage with the time I have to devote to this.

So what do I need from you folks? Ideas and thoughts and advice, really. If you’re a self-published author, I’d be massively grateful for whatever advice you have on getting this idea out there. If you’re a reader of mine, would you plop down $3 for a collection like this? Am I wrong about KDP Select? Do you just want to opine? Point is, I want to know what’s on your mind, so please leave a comment. (Note that comments are moderated, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on ’em and will do my best to approve quickly.)

Also, if you’d be so kind, how about some thoughts on possible titles? To wit:

Let’s be super clear: I don’t expect to make serious bank on this. But I’d like to give it a go and see what happens while I work on Big Dark. (Ooops…working title there. Shh.) Let me know what you think in the comments.

#SFWApro